Was wondering if GRTU has considered trying to secure some access points on some of the warm water creeks and rivers that flow in the Hill Country? Just take the Medina River for example, above the town of Bandera we are now down to less than 4 access points due to bridge trespassing postings. I am not gonna rehash the legality of what is or isn't a navigable waterway, it's a discussion that can not be won and with each passing year we are losing more and more public access and I am not blaming the land owners either. The last time I was at the Peaceful Valley crossing on the Medina this summer there was no less than 5 soil filled diapers on the bank, pretty sad. Any one who has been fishing the creeks and rivers the past 25 years or so knows exactly what I am talking about when it comes to the disappearing access. So, I was wondering what you all think about expanding beyond the Guad, and securing some leased access points on other rivers? I am going to say something that will ruffle the feathers of a few folks that might be reading this and that is this, the TPWD has completely dropped the ball when it comes to protecting, enhancing and securing our "future" water access. This isn't the 70''s, 80's or 90's anymore, times have changed in Tejas. Other states routinely secure access points for water access but not Texas and to be frank. I don't think they have a clue of what's going on or how to fix it. Look, not trying to incite emotion but it sure would be nice if we can get some folks to think outside the box. Lastly, thank you GRTU for all that you have done for creating an awesome fishery on the Guad, well done.

Securing access to other rivers is not in the cards for GRTU.
I need more access for Trout Fishing and costs are continuing to go up on everything including the purchase of Rainbows and Browns.
We are already talking about having to increase the price of the Lease Access program again.
There are many things that need to be changed to make the LAP a success going forward.

Yeah I get it, the onus should really fall back on TPWD but thought I would at least put it out there. It's been tough watching the changes and it saddens me that my son will never know the Texas Hill Country the way that I did, guess I am becoming that "old guy". Gonna be interesting to see how the Browns do in the Guad and I look forward to tangling with one. See you on the water.

Mostly water craft launch sites on big rivers or "dead water" lake access, they need to go outside the box. 2 very simple things they could implement immediately:

1. Effective immediately no fish of any size or species can be harvested on any state TX park. The rationale here is that when you take a 5 or 6 year old to Garner it should be stacked with fish. Those pools are almost cleaned out in the summer months. You want to sell more fishing license well trust me, nothing bores a kid quicker than fishing in an empty swimming pool.

2. Scratch the winter trout stocking (excluding the Guad) and instead raise Guadalupe Bass and release spawning class indenginous fish that can actually survive in the warm water and compensate for the increasing number of fisherman. Just take the upper Nueces (Camp Wood) for example, due to its wide channel it allows very easy 4 wheel access to most of the river. Rivers and streams are very delicate and the removal of spawning age fish (at a certain point) has severe consequences on the ecosystem. I witnessed this first hand while fishing the small creeks in Virginia. Once the biomass of spawning age fish are gone, the vacuum is filled by an explosion of little fish. Over time, the average size of the fish begins to diminish as well and the river becomes full of "Dinks". I witnessed this collapse on the Brookie streams in Virginia. Back in the late 70's and early 80's there were still native brookie streams that had a "low" number of 12-13" native brookies in them. Within a span of about 10 years those streams became full of 6-8" brookies and they never recovered and eventually the numbers of dinks began to shrink as well. I am seeing the exact same thing happen on the Nueces, though there are still a few bruisers left, but not like it was 10 years ago. The state needs to start supplementing these Texas Creeks on a regular basis with spawning age fish not dumping fingerlings into the rivers, this will not work, these aren't lakes, nor oceans.

Alright I am off my rant but it's only because I care and thank god we still have the Devil's River but man it wasn't that long ago in Texas where we had other places that matched closely to its fish populations......sigh. Happy New Year!

Mostly water craft launch sites on big rivers or "dead water" lake access, they need to go outside the box. 2 very simple things they could implement immediately:

1. Effective immediately no fish of any size or species can be harvested on any state TX park. The rationale here is that when you take a 5 or 6 year old to Garner it should be stacked with fish. Those pools are almost cleaned out in the summer months. You want to sell more fishing license well trust me, nothing bores a kid quicker than fishing in an empty swimming pool.

2. Scratch the winter trout stocking (excluding the Guad) and instead raise Guadalupe Bass and release spawning class indenginous fish that can actually survive in the warm water and compensate for the increasing number of fisherman. Just take the upper Nueces (Camp Wood) for example, due to its wide channel it allows very easy 4 wheel access to most of the river. Rivers and streams are very delicate and the removal of spawning age fish (at a certain point) has severe consequences on the ecosystem. I witnessed this first hand while fishing the small creeks in Virginia. Once the biomass of spawning age fish are gone, the vacuum is filled by an explosion of little fish. Over time, the average size of the fish begins to diminish as well and the river becomes full of "Dinks". I witnessed this collapse on the Brookie streams in Virginia. Back in the late 70's and early 80's there were still native brookie streams that had a "low" number of 12-13" native brookies in them. Within a span of about 10 years those streams became full of 6-8" brookies and they never recovered and eventually the numbers of dinks began to shrink as well. I am seeing the exact same thing happen on the Nueces, though there are still a few bruisers left, but not like it was 10 years ago. The state needs to start supplementing these Texas Creeks on a regular basis with spawning age fish not dumping fingerlings into the rivers, this will not work, these aren't lakes, nor oceans.

Alright I am off my rant but it's only because I care and thank god we still have the Devil's River but man it wasn't that long ago in Texas where we had other places that matched closely to its fish populations......sigh. Happy New Year!

The biggest issue TPWD has been combating with Guadalupe Bass is overcoming the unfortunate decision years ago to stock smallmouth bass, which interbreed with the Guads and dilute the genetic purity of the species...almost to a point of losing the species all together. Their strategy of late has been to stock large numbers of fingerling Guads to basically overwhelm the smallies' genes.